Washington, 3 November 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The nuclear weapons testing ordered by US President Donald Trump will not involve any nuclear explosions, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday.

"I think the tests we're talking about right now are system tests," Wright told broadcaster Fox News in an interview. "These are not nuclear explosions. These are what we call non-critical explosions."

The planned tests involve "all the other parts of a nuclear weapon to make sure they deliver the appropriate geometry and they set up the nuclear explosion," he added.

Trump had caused a stir a few days earlier by announcing the immediate resumption of nuclear weapons testing, without clarifying what exactly would be tested.

That left open whether underground explosions might be included. Trump justified the decision by saying that other countries were also carrying out tests.

Wright said that modernizing the United States' nuclear stockpile was a "critical priority."

"A lot of our weapons are very old," he said, adding that the arsenal had to be kept modern and up to date to maintain global leadership. This, he said, was the only way to guarantee "peace abroad and prosperity at home."

The Department of Energy oversees many aspects of the US nuclear arsenal, including through its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

The US last carried out a nuclear weapons test in 1992. Together with Russia and China, it has so far adhered to a decades-long moratorium on underground nuclear explosions.

Washington maintains an extensive programme to ensure the reliability of its nuclear arsenal. This includes computer simulations, tests using nuclear materials that do not trigger chain reactions and trials of missile and warhead technologies. According to some experts, such measures make nuclear tests unnecessary.

MIA file photo